I have a horrible idea. I think Tarvek is being set up to die.
Hear me out; the Storm King conspiracy, at its core, was set up to have the Heir Apparent of the Storm King come to Mechanicsburg and rescue a set-upon Heterodyne Heiress from evil, no good, war-clank thingys. Said rescue would lead to love, wedded bliss, and the restoration of an Empirical Europa under a descendant of its last unanimously acknowledged ruler.
The only problem (okay, there are tons of problems – but one of the big ones) is that Tarvek, the Storm King Heir Apparent, isn’t the one who was seen rescuing the town by calling down lightening! It was Gil.
Now, unless Girl Genius is working toward something of a XXXenophile ending (which I would be whole-heartedly behind, btw - “two boys for every girl!”), the Heterodyne Heiress is only going to have one husband. It’s already been well established that Agatha has strong romantic feelings for Gil. It’s also been show that she has affection for Tarvek, but it seems like it might be less romantic and more… just plain friendly. In the story of the Weasel Queen, Tarvek is shown at the end with a camera – not a token of romance like Gil is holding (flowers). When Tarvek was dying of the Resplendent Immolation, Agatha kissed him on the head – as opposed to Gil, whom she kissed on the mouth.
Now, back to my sinking feeling that Tarvek isn’t long for this world. My primary concern is Violetta. It seems odd to me that any member of the Smoke Knights could be considered incompetent – they are an elite fighting squad, raised from birth to protect and serve the descendents of the Storm King. The fact that she professes her incompetence rather vocally, yet has shown considerable aptitude (Theo blow-up doll anyone?), is strange. Also, the Smoke Knights are tools of the Knights of Jove – a group of people originally dedicated to the preservation of the Storm King legacy. Imagine being raised from birth in that kind of mentality; the appearance of The Other, no matter how charismatic, could not possibly have undone generations of indoctrination that the Smoke Knights must have lived.
I really started re-thinking this girl when I went back through the comic (I wanted a chance to truly appreciate the insane amount of foreshadowing that was going on). While rereading the bit with Gil taking down the battalion of War-clanks (with lightening!), I was reminded that Violetta was there for the event. Disguised as a secretary, with a cloak-clasp with a peculiar sigil on it. It took some digging to find where else I'd seen it – it was on the armor of the Storm King in the Vienna opera. That clasp at her throat could have been anything; her job was such that no one would care if she wore the sword and gear of the House of Sturmvoraus, or the Goddess glyph of the Knights of Jove. But Violetta chose to wear the heraldry of her greatest loyalty; trilobite jewelry and the lightening glyph of the Storm King.
This told me that Smoke Knights, or at the very least Violetta, hold there loyalty to only one thing – the legacy of the Storm King. Not to the House of Sturmvoraus, not to the conflicted Knights of Jove, and not to The Other. This makes me think that she will act to protect that legacy - even if the Heir ends up being someone other than Tarvek.
With that in mind, it perhaps makes a bit more sense why Violetta willing took Tarvek into Castle Heterodyne. It was long after the Nurse (whom I am going out on a limb and am assuming was the Smoke Knight in the hospital) was killed – which means long after Violetta got tapped as Tarvek's bodyguard. It was also long after she'd witnessed Gilgamesh Wulfenbach call lightening in defense of his Heterodyne Heiress. If she had left Tarvek at the hospital, the Baron would have had him contained until the mess at Strumhalten got figured out. Tarvek's immediate freedom was in danger, not his life. So why drag him into a deathtrap, where she (and not a highly guarded hospital) could influence his survival?
Perhaps it had something to do with the Storm King himself? From Gil’s (and Zola’s) own admission, Andronicus Valois is thought to have sown his wild oats far and wide. What was to have stopped one of those children from being a member of a minor noble house? Like maybe, the Wulfenbachs? Or, perhaps, Gil’s as yet un-named mother’s (I don't actually believe that, I've got a soft sport for Milvistle, but it is a valid question)?
Would this ambivalence of descendance cause a weak spoke in loyalty for the Smoke Knights? Despite the generations of education demanding that her loyalty be to the Heir of Valois, Violetta rather easily switched her allegiance to Agatha when presented the opportunity. I think this is another demonstration of where her true loyalties lie – with the legacy. She is more than happy to play bodyguard to Agatha, because now she is protecting the Storm King's bride – the one part of the legacy with no questions attached.
And lastly, a question of story-craft – Tarvek's presences as a potentially likeable good-ish guy makes for difficult story telling. Or rather, not the telling, but the ending. The only way for Tarvek's story to conclude happily (from his current point of view) is for him to wed the Heterodyne Heiress and be announced as the Storm King. And what if he does accept that Agatha isn't the girl for him? Reference back to my question of husbands; there just isn't a viable bride for him, Heterodyne or otherwise (unless he's going to go after Zeetha, but don't think Higgs would have any of that). I just can't think of a way for his story to end well. In the end, I think he may have to go the way of Lars – a perfectly suitable beau for Agatha who ends up dead as a means of moving the story along.
In conclusion, I ask: when the time comes that Violetta must act to protect the legacy of the Storm King, a legacy which demands a love between a Heterodyne girl and a Heir of Valois, will she prove her thus-far behavior a charade and sacrifice Tarvek in favor of a King who has already proven he can commanded a storm and is already in place to rule Europe?
(my brain is tired now...)
Satyr
Reply[]
There are some good reasons not to believe that Tarvek is set to die. The foremost of which is he seems to be a favorite character of Kaja's. He was also present in Othar's twitter as just about the last surviving spark after the Other has married Klaus and devastated Europa. Othar is not necessarily a reliable reporter and in this story he got sent back in time to rewrite history however it still gives some evidence of Tarvek's survival skills.
Thirdly he, Gil and Agatha just did a three way SVV revival presumably linking the fates of the three of them together for the rest of time.
Finally there are alternate fates available to him. His claim to the Storm King throne is tenuous. There is probably another character in the comic with a better claim.
As for a suitable bride, well he probably just hasn't built her yet.
Also, he is the presumptive heir to the nine muses and we have only seen three so far. What happens to that story thread if he dies.
As for Agatha's secretary, that was a good catch seeing her broach pin resembled the storm kings. Still I don't think she is the smoke knight Violetta. The secretary is very together. She wears clothes befitting a female. Violetta is pure smoke knight and tom boy. She aspires to grace and pretty clothes but isn't sure of herself yet, either as smoke knight or woman. The first time she gets dressed up she will knock the boys eyes out, just watch.
Part of the confusion is that Violetta says she was assigned to the burgermaster, I.E. the one Klaus put in charge, who really did do nothing. The secretary was hanging out with Vanamonde the Seneschal and true runner of things.
--Rej¿¤¤? 03:43, October 30, 2010 (UTC)
- Your input has successfully derailed my argument.
- I don't follow Otha's twitter, so I will have to trust you there.
- My confusion was that I thought her first appearance was with Herr Diamant (in the crypt), supposedly sent on order of the Bergermeister. The secretary was indeed in the coffee shop; I hadn't noticed before I went on my very-late-at-night, conspiracy theorist ramblings.
- I still wonder about the Storm King-esque broach, though...
- --ThirstySatyr (presumably) 16:47, October 30, 2010
- Yeah, now that you brought it to my attention I do too. --Rej
- Also, the three way SVV always kind of worried me; I got a funny impression that it was a way to transfer Tarvek's roll into Gil. That is, when their lives synced up and they started talking in the same “not going to let Agatha die, she's the most important thing” way, that it was a sign of a part of Tarvek's character finding a way to survive on in Gil. Agatha has set something of a president for two lives existing in one person.
- But that is just reckless theorizing...
- --ThirstySatyr (presumably) 16:47, October 30, 2010
- Hmmm. I got the impression that Gil and Tarvek bonded as friends aboard Castle Wulfenbach. That the separation was bitter and hard on both of them. That they both loved getting involved in each others adventures. Tarvek in flash back seemed to complain but his version of history may have been less than honest. More likely the two made an Abbott and Costello team. "Gil go check out that crack in the wall." And the adventure starts.
- Tarvek could well die as you said. He has heroic tendencies and conspiratorial leanings. In other words he will do the right thing at times even at risk to himself. He also will get involved up to his eyeballs in dubious plots for supposedly noble causes and then trying to stay alive do disastrous thing like give the Other a special Spark wasp or disable the singing dingbots allowing Lu to take over Agatha.
- He is someone whose motives and actions need always be questioned.
- I thought the same thing as you with the SVV that it would give Gil a better claim to the storm king throne than Tarvek. The thing is Tarvek's claim is not that good. Plus both of them are sparks. The storm king was no spark but a beloved ruler. Which means he settled disputes among sparks. So I think before the story concludes we will see someone like that accede to the storm king throne. The storm king produced a lot of progeny or at least those who would claim it. --Rej¿¤¤? 00:17, October 31, 2010 (UTC)